Good Game Get!: Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes
Our fearless leader here at Good Game Get! has asked us to write about our favorite games of 2010. I started by making a list of the games I played and quickly realized several of my favorites were late 2009 releases. Torchlight is a great example of this, which I didn’t get a chance to play until its release on Mac in May. But there was a Nintendo DS game, released after the pre-holiday blitz last year which would easily make my 2010 top five if it hadn’t been released last December — Capybara Games’ Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes.
Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes is simply one of those games you need to play if you’re a DS owner. Solid mechanics and challenging gameplay are blended efficiently in this puzzle-based fantasy adventure, but it’s no Puzzle Quest clone. It does use a “match three” puzzle mechanic, but it does so in a way that furthers the action, as much as the story. As you explore the world, you engage in battles with all sorts of creatures, mainly the Demons who are once again hellbent on over-running Ashan, a fictional world in the Heroes of Might & Magic series. When you engage an opponent and their army, the matching mechanic is used to sort and strengthen your own army, building both defenses and special units out of individuals. This basic gameplay has amazing depth and also translates really well to multiplayer battles with friends. Mixed in to all this is a little JRPG flavor and a generous helping of the “Heroes of Might and Magic” canon.
Being a puzzle-based game, M&M:CoH is perfect for playing on-the-go, and lends itself well to enjoying in short sessions. Only the final battles for each character and at the end of the game require some dedicated time (it can get difficult), but that is just another element that raises it above more standard puzzle games. This one is a must play, and a perfect gift for any DS owner this holiday season. It might also be the perfect way to get that adult DS owner who only plays puzzle games to finally play something with some real depth. Then you can make them play Chrono Trigger!
- Andy